Struggle-La Lucha spoke with Andre Powell, a community organizer with the Baltimore Peoples Power Assembly, about the Trump administration’s threats to deploy federal military forces in the city.
SLL: Like everyone, we have seen the back-and-forth between Trump, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, and Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott, with Trump threatening to send the National Guard to Baltimore City. How does the Baltimore Peoples Power Assembly view this?
Andre Powell: We have to understand that Trump’s threats have nothing to do with addressing urban crime and everything to do with normalizing martial law as a tool of capitalist crisis management. What the billionaire ruling class fears isn’t street crime — it’s the growing solidarity among multinational working-class communities to unite against racist divisions and demand economic and political justice. We need to resist now.
Trump’s threats to deploy the National Guard are racist. The pattern is unmistakable: He has exclusively threatened cities led by Black mayors. This is another key reason why everyone must fight to stop these plans.
It is costing one million dollars a day in Washington, D.C., to station the Guard. Let that sink in. This is millions of dollars that could be spent on affordable housing, healthcare, education, food and, of course, jobs.
SLL: What kind of organizing strategy is the Baltimore Peoples Power Assembly developing to counter this threat?
Andre Powell: That’s the most important question. We’re engaged in mass political education — distributing literature, posting flyers, and conducting outreach to build the kind of broad-based resistance that can stop a federal military occupation. Our approach draws from the civil rights movement’s model of sustained civil disobedience, including coordinated work stoppages and mass mobilization.
Concretely, we’ve called for an outreach day and civil disobedience training. We want to prepare people.
SLL: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Andre Powell: Yes, we have also issued a special appeal to the National Guard troops, calling on them to refuse billionaire Trump’s illegal orders.
Instead of deploying the National Guard to suppress working-class communities, these resources should be addressing the ongoing climate disasters that have devastated the Southeast and West. Months after Hurricane Helene, communities in western North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia are still rebuilding without adequate federal support. Meanwhile, Texas flood victims and California wildfire survivors remain in crisis.
Real security would involve preparing our most vulnerable communities for the next climate emergency: ensuring seniors and working-poor families have access to air conditioning before the next deadly heat wave strikes.
We said, “Do the right thing — go home to your families, children, loved ones and community. Don’t defend billionaires! Stop the trillions spent on wars abroad and at home, fight poverty and racism.” Those are the things we are saying.
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